Mind Breaker
by kinatsurune
Summary: The trio arrive in a town of telekinetics. There's even a school just for them. But when Ash gets mixed up in their system thanks to a mischievous look-alike, his friends find themselves in a race against time to get him out - before it's too late.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.

Summary: The trio arrive in a town known for its population of telekinetics. There's even a school just for them. But when Ash gets mixed up into their system thanks to a mischievous look-a-like, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu find themselves in a race against time to get him out - before it's too late.

A/N: This is something of an experiment to help me with another Pokemon fic I'm planning. And if you don't like mind torture (although that might be putting it a bit strongly), as hinted by the title, don't read.

Also, I know Pikachu is a male, but I like writing him as a female...don't know why.

Enjoy...

* * *

**Chapter One**

_I have to get out of here I have to get out of here I have to get out of here __I have to get out of here I have to get out of here I have to get out of here __I have to get out of here I have to get out of here __I have to get out of here I have to get out of here I have to get out of here __I have to get out of here I have to get out of here I have to get out of here __I have to get out of here I have to get out of here -_

___...I can't stand it..._

* * *

"Ash, please don't tell me we're lost again!" Misty groaned, too tired to berate her traveling companion thoroughly. Instead, she plopped herself down onto the grass bordering the walking path and gave an irritated sigh. "Why do we not learn? Why?" She looked up and asked the sky.

"Uh, learn what, Misty?" Ash asked sheepishly, eager to jump onto a different topic that might distract the redhead from his usual fumble in directions. Which he would never admit aloud, by the way.

Unfortunately, he couldn't be so lucky. "Why do we not learn to _never _listen to you when it comes to directions? No, don't answer that, the question wasn't for you. Brock? Can you answer me that?"

The dark skinned teen shrugged good-naturedly, a small smile tugging at his lips at his two friends' antics. They weren't really lost, he usually knew where they were, but sometimes it was just fun to watch Ash try and lead their small group. Plus, it often enough led them to interesting adventures. Maybe when it came to Pokemon battles the boy could best them, but definitely not when it came to reading maps successfully. "If you stopped wallowing in the pits of total despair, you'd notice there's a town up ahead. I'd say that means we're not lost." The laughter in his voice was evident.

"Really? A town?" Misty perked up, the exhausted look on her face immediately vanishing. "Alright, let's go!"

Pikachu yelped and gripped tightly onto her red and white perch as she was nearly whipped off by the force with which Misty began dragging her master.

Once the small group had reached the small town, they couldn't help but stare in awe. The architecture looked like nothing they had seen before, with the twisting style of the buildings that made their balance look quite precarious indeed. One particular mini-skyscraper was so sharply tilted, it was hard to believe it hadn't succumbed to gravity's force long ago.

"Wow, what _is _this place?" Ash marveled, his neck beginning to hurt from constantly swiveling his head around to take everything in. "Why's everything look so weird?"

Brock winced, hoping none of the locals heard Ash's question. "It's just different, that's all. This town is a little far out from others, so its no surprise they might develop a more unique culture. According to the map, this is..." His already permanently frowning eyebrows deepened even more, "...Sienna Town. And wow, it really is small, if this map is to scale."

"Cool, I bet if they have unique buildings, they must have interesting and unique souveniers to buy!" Misty clapped her hands in delight. "Let's go shopping!"

"What? No way, I want to eat first!" Ash immediately argued, falling into their usual routine of disagreement. "And I'm sure my Pokemon could do with some rest too, that last trainer on the road was pretty tough to beat-"

"Oh come on Ash, the only things on your mind all the time are food and Pokemon. Let's do something _different _for a change."

"Hey, _you're_ the one traveling with _me_, why do I have to do what you want-"

"Quit being selfish, it wouldn't hurt to just look around! We always go straight through every town without even exploring it at all-"

"What's the point in staying in one that doesn't even have a Gym?"

"Have you been _listening _to what I've been saying - OOF!" Misty yelped as she felt something forcefully ram into her from behind. She and the weight on top of her groaned simultaneously.

"Whoa, are you guys alright?" Brock immediately rushed forward, pulling the boy off his friend. He gave both of them a quick assessment and was satisfied that neither seemed seriously hurt.

"Geez, watch where you're going, would you?" Misty growled as she faced the boy. Her eyes widened and a shriek escaped her mouth. "What the-"

"Misty what's- whoa, that is...strange."

"Huh? What's strange?"

Both Misty and Brock felt their skin crawl as both Ash and the boy piped up at the same time. But it wasn't their timing that warranted attention.

"Ash, _look _at him. He looks...just like you."

"What?" Ash wrinkled his nose in confusion, facing the equally confused looking boy. "No he doesn't, why would you say that? For one thing, his eyes look closer together than mine."

Said eyes narrowed in offense. "Well, your _nose_ is uglier than mine!"

"Hey!"

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Brock quickly intervened, sensing the argument was about to get heated. "Let's not act like five year olds, please. What's your name, kid?"

"Well, it's not _kid_, that's for sure." Was the snarky reply. "My name's Sam. Sam A. Marveledo, but my friends call me Ledo for short. I guess you guys can call me that too, there are too many Sams in this town anyway, it can get pretty confusing. Who are you guys, Shorty, Squinty, and Angry?" The boy laughed at his own joke, completely unfazed that he was the only one finding it funny.

"Who're you calling short! You're no taller than me!" Ash piped up angrily, only too eager to resume the argument they were previously denied. While the two began to bicker, Misty - for once didn't react to the insult at her temper - took the opportunity to observe. When there was no one else intervening, she realized Brock was doing the same thing.

It was definitely unnerving, how similar Ash and Ledo looked, from the baseball cap struggling to disguise eternal bed-hair, the fingerless gloves, even the style of their clothing was similar. Ash wore an open collar shirt over a black tee, Ledo wore an open, baggy dress shirt over a white tee. They both wore jeans and sneakers. Watching them argue however, the two observers did notice a few differences.

For one, Ledo had lighter hair, more of a dark brown color to Ash's pitch black. He also had a more...extensive language than Ash, that was for sure. Looking really closely, when the two stopped their animated movements for just a second, they could also see that Ledo was slightly taller by maybe a centimeter or two (or his hair was just poofier under his cap), rendering Ash's previous exclamation useless. His face looked a little thinner too - or as Misty would gleefully put it, Ash was just fatter. And of course, he lacked a certain, exasperated electrical mouse clinging to his head.

Having had their fill of Ash and Ledo-watching, Brock decided maybe it was time to step in - Pikachu looked about ready to jolt her master to his senses. Literally.

"Alright let's break it up, come on now!" Brock said firmly, roughly pushing the two boys away from each other. He watched in amusement as they simultaneously stuck their tongues out at the other (or was it at him for interrupting their fight?) and hmphed. Now that the shock of running into an Ash-look-alike was over, it was beginning to get entertaining. "I'm surprised you haven't settled this by a Pokemon match by now."

Ledo scoffed, turning around and already forgetting his resolve to give the other boy a ruthless cold shoulder. "I don't waste my time with a useless dream like becoming a _Pokemon _master." He said mockingly. That raised eyebrows from both Brock and Misty - well, _there_ was another major difference between him and Ash.

Of course, it only served to make Ash angrier. "What? What's that supposed to mean?" He growled, already beginning to get fired up again.

"What's the point, when the Pokemon can't even beat me?"

Misty cocked her head, confused at the statement. "Well, that just means you're a good trainer, doesn't it? That _is _one of the criteria for becoming a Pokemon Master - to be undefeated."

"No, stupid, I mean _me._ Not my Pokemon, they can't beat _me._"

Brock and Ash gulped and automatically took a step back as the angry tick mark on Misty's head began to grow. "Did...you just call me stupid?" She said slowly, looking like she would start breathing fire at any moment.

In attempt to stall yet _another _argument (geez, this kid was going to set a record with their little group, pissing off each and every one of its members in less than an hour), Brock quickly jumped in. "Uhh, ah, wait so you mean you personally battle the Pokemon? Are you a martial artist?"

Ledo gave him a disbelieving look. "You guys are definitely not from around here."

Now Brock was curious, and even Ash and Misty seemed to have calmed down enough to pique their interests as well. "Why do you say that?"

"Sienna Town is nicknamed the Psychic Town. We have so many telekinetics gathered here, we don't have just one psychic school, we have _two_. Well, more like one school that just happens to take place in two different buildings. The principal's the same, the senile old fool. Anyway, did you notice the weird architecture? That's the work of psychic architects, its something of an unsaid competition to build the most unstable looking, but actually stable building."

Pikachu lightly dodged out of the way as Ash scratched his head. "What's the point in that?"

Ledo shrugged, putting his hands behind his head in a casual manner. "Well, you gotta have some sort of challenge when you don't have to worry about construction costs like cranes to lift things and stuff."

Ash cocked his head, still confused.

Misty sighed and resisted the urge to hit her friend upside the head, only because Pikachu would get caught in the crossfire. "Telekinetics, Ash. They can lift things with their minds. Remember Sabrina?"

"...ohhh yeah!"

Brock inwardly shivered. No matter how much that girl had changed for the better thanks to Haunter, it still spooked him out to remember his brief time as a doll. He changed the topic. "So do a lot of people in this town have the same view as you about being a Pokemon trainer?"

Ash perked up at the direction the conversation was going in. "Yeah, yeah! Are there any Pokemon trainers around here that I can battle?"

Ledo shrugged again. "How should I know? I'm not their keeper." Suddenly, he turned his head as if he heard something, although the traveling trio heard nothing at all besides the usual bustle of a modest town. "Whelp, gotta get going before the old man catches me out of school again. See ya!" Before the three could reply, the boy had given a cheeky wave and sprinted off down the path.

"...Well, he certainly doesn't act like you, Ash." Misty finally said after a moment of silence. For one thing, he seemed a lot less ignorant and oblivious. Probably because he didn't have a one track mind set on Pokemon all the time.

"And he doesn't look like me either! I'm nothing like him! He doesn't even like Pokemon, how can someone not like Pokemon?" Ash muttered grumpily, somehow feeling cheated out of properly settling the argument between them. Probably because he usually settled disagreements with Pokemon battles.

Brock chuckled and was about to consult his guide book for a place to stay when something on the ground caught his eye. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's...what?" Misty questioned, watching her older friend pick something up. "Looks like a necklace."

"Or some kind of tag." Brock wondered, turning the thing over in his hands. It was a strange looking item, just an empty strip of laminated paper hanging from a leather cord. "No writing on it, just blank."

"Huh. Ledo must have dropped it. Guess we'll have to find him again." Misty didn't sound too thrilled at the prospect, and for once, Ash wholeheartedly agreed.

* * *

Misty sighed as they entered the Pokemon Center, preparing herself to come down on Brock for hitting on Nurse Joy again. It seemed he was preparing himself too, inflating himself with ready compliments for the pretty nurse -

-only to immediately deflate as they realized it wasn't the usual woman who staffed the front desk. Ash snickered at the obvious dismay on Brock's face.

"Welcome to the Pokemon Center, how may I help you?" The pink haired _man_ piped up cheerfully.

Brock immediately leaned over the desk, eyeing the man suspiciously. "Who are you? Where's Nurse Joy?" He demanded.

"Oh, she's on vacation, I'm just filling in for her while she's gone. I'm Tommy, her nephew. So before you ask like everyone else does, yes, my hair color is natural. Runs in the family." He answered with a wink. "It also doesn't automatically mean I'm gay, although that doesn't rule out the possibility that I might be." he shot a flashy smile in the face of Brock's confusion.

Putting aside the complete shock of a male version of Joy _hitting_ on Brock, Misty was amused to realize she was actually surprised to learn there were other people besides Nurse Joys in their family. Of course it shouldn't have come as a shock, there had to be men in their relations somewhere! Figures even they became Pokemon nurses.

Well, Ash certainly didn't seem to care (or notice). "Can you heal my Pokemon, please? They're pretty tired from all the battles I've been winning." He gently deposited his Pikachu and pokeballs on the counter.

Misty rolled her eyes. Geez, he bragged even when he didn't mean to.

"Of course, young man! Meanwhile, why don't you three see the sights? It seems you're not from around here, and Sienna Town is definitely an interesting place to explore if you haven't visited before." Tommy suggested, organizing Ash's Pokeballs on a tray. "I'd suggest visiting one of the psychic schools, visitors always find it fascinating to see some of the students practice and if you're lucky, one of the teachers might let you watch."

"Hmm, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea." Brock mused. It'd be nice to see what telekinetic powers could do when they _weren't_ directed at you, trying to turn you into play dolls. "What do you say, guys?"

Ash sighed. "I guess...there's nothing else to do anyway since there doesn't seem to be any Pokemon trainers around here."

"Oh, there's certainly a few from here, but no doubt they're out of town somewhere. Most trainers are the non-Psychics, and non-Psychics don't stay here for long. By the way, if you'll excuse my frankness, but you look remarkably like someone I know..."

"Ledo, right?" Misty interrupted, feeling her good mood somewhat dissipate at the memory of the boy. "Yeah, we met him. Seems like a real jerk. Not just a stupid jerk like Ash, but a _real_ one."

"Yeah...wait, hey!"

Brock sighed. Sometimes it was a disadvantage to be the oldest and most mature of the group. It came in the form of a headache.

Tommy laughed. "Well, he has his moments. I would say he's really not that bad once you get to know him, but I doubt you three will be here that long. Anyway, enjoy yourselves!"

"Thanks! Pikachu, behave yourself, we'll be back soon, okay?" The three waved to the friendly nurse and Pikachu as they exited.

Having been reminded of the Ash lookalike, the three let out a collective sigh as they realized they'd have to meet him again in order to return the mysterious tag. Misty was sorely tempted to just leave it lying around somewhere, but it could actually be important...although how a completely blank piece of paper could be important was hard to imagine.

"Well, he did imply he went to one of the psychic schools, so maybe we'll see him there."

"Yeah, hopefully he got caught playing hooky and is being thoroughly punished right now." Misty grinned evilly at the thought, making Ash and Brock subconsciously back away.

After a few polite inquiries and a lot of pointing, the three friends found themselves standing in front of the main school, an impressive looking structure. At first glance, one wouldn't think it was a building, but a huge sculpture of art. Blades of mirror glass wound around each other in an intricate pattern, giving the impression of a tornado frozen in ice and time. Somehow, they were angled in such a way that at any time the sun was in the sky, only one blade directly reflected the sunlight in a visible stream of light down to the front entrance of the building.

"Wow. It's like a welcome mat made of sunlight." Brock marveled, shielding his eyes to observe the sunlight's structured path. "And if I were to take a wild guess, I'd say whichever blade is reflecting the sunlight tells the hour. Like a giant sundial."

"Why do you say that?" Ash asked curiously. He looked up too; all he saw was a pretty array of glass, nothing like a clock.

"There's twelve blades, and as complicated as their arrangement is, they're evenly space apart."

"Correct, my observant friend." A voice from behind prompted the three to whirl around. They found themselves staring up at an extremely tall, stern looking old man with a clean cut business suit that said no one dared argue with the likes of him. "It's good Ledo has decided to associate with intelligent people, but that doesn't change the fact that he abandoned his studies to do so." The man continued, his neatly trimmed mustache twitching slightly.

"Uh but sir, Ledo's not our friend."

"Oh, is that right? Well I apologize for the mistake, I only assumed so because of your close proximity to him."

The three friends glanced at each other in confusion. Before they could ask anything further however, the stranger reached down and deftly plucked the blank tag out of Brock's hands. "Hey!"

A disapproving tsk escaped the man's lips as he stared at the tag. "Yet another offense to add to the long list. Ledo, you know you are to never remove your identification tag during school hours. That warrants an additional punishment to the one you will automatically recieve for leaving the building unauthorized."

For once, understanding dawned on Ash's face first. "Hey wait, you're making a mistake I'm not-"

"Come along now. If these two are not your friends, then you must be harassing them in your usual manner, and we cannot have that." Before any of the three could properly react, the man had firmly grabbed ahold of Ash's arm and dragged him through the opened, automatic doors into the building. Without so much as a 'good day,' the reflective doors closed to leave Misty and Brock gaping at their own reflections.

* * *

A/N: ...I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. Gay Pokemon nurse - it just _came_ to me. Besides, this mostly won't turn into a yaoi fic as much as I want it to, (pairings would create more complications than necessary for an experimental fic) so I have to have some gay characters in there _somewhere, _lol.

Please review and tell me what you think! (Pleeeeeeaaase, CONSTRUCTIVE stuff to say, I'm BEGGING YOU)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Ledo, however, I do. Or maybe not since he looks just like Ash who I don't own. *shrug* Eh, whatever.

A/N: I think I might have made Misty a little OOC, so I apologize for that. I totally didn't mean to, but she seems a little...angrier than in the show, heh.

**

* * *

Chapter Two**

_Again and again and again and again_ _and again and again and again_ _and again and again and again. Again. Again. AGAIN. AGAIN!_

_...what's the point?_

* * *

After a few more seconds of bewildered silence, Misty and Brock snapped to their senses. They immediately rushed forward, knocking on the glass doors at a volume that could barely be called polite. Though, manners were the last thing on their minds.

"Ash! Hey, Ash!"

"Excuse me sir, but you've got the wrong person!" Brock scrabbled to pull the doors open somehow, seeing as how they lacked any sort of handle. He wondered if they could only be opened telekinetically, which would be fitting for a school of psychics.

"Augh, great!" Misty threw up her hands in exasperation. "Yet again, Ash manages to get himself into _another_ mess, and we're the ones who have to get him out! I wanted to go shopping, but nooo, now we'll probably have to spend the rest of the day sorting out this stupid misunderstanding!" The redhead ranted, ignoring the fact that it really wasn't Ash's fault this time. No, it was the fault of another boy, but he looked enough like Ash, so she would just follow her ingrained habits and go ahead and blame Ash.

As if Brock had sensed that line of reasoning, he quickly spoke up in defense of their friend. "Hey come on Misty, it wasn't his fault this time. Besides, it shouldn't take that long, all we have to do is find Ledo and the principle will see he mixed them up." He didn't voice the possibility that it might very well take the rest of the day just to find the other boy, hoping it wouldn't come to that. Otherwise, he'd have a ticking time bomb redhead to deal with.

Misty huffed in reluctant agreement, to Brock's relief. "Fine. Come on, let's find the stupid kid."

The two turned and began walking away from the school, leaving their friend stuck inside. Little did they know it would be far more than a day before they saw Ash walk through those doors again.

* * *

"Hey! For the last time, _you've got the wrong guy!_" Ash yelled loudly, having abandoned courtesy and politeness a while ago. He figured he was granted that much, considering the surprisingly strong old man had yet to respond to him nor let go of the nearly bruising grip on his forearm.

Finally, the old man stopped in front of gleaming obsidian black doors. Ash couldn't help but shiver, getting a strange sense from the looming structures. If he didn't know any better, he would swear he could hear some sort of humming resonating from the doors themselves. He looked up to ask the old man about it, but before he could even open his mouth, the young trainer felt himself roughly shoved forward. "Hey!"

"I see your previous punishment did nothing to remedy your problem of improperly addressing your superiors." The old man said coldly, looking down at the sprawled boy. "We will work on that today, in addition to making up the assignment you missed due to your rash and _foolish_ decision to leave the school again. _After_ your punishment, of course."

Ash sighed, wondering what a psychic school would consider punishment. Right now the worst thing he could think of was no food for the rest of the day, but he'd had enough practice enduring that during his travels. "I guess you still won't believe me when I say my name is Ash, not Ledo." The young trainer tried again.

"Ash." The old man considered for a second, and said boy perked up hopefully. He immediately deflated however, as the man's previously expressionless face suddenly creased into a mocking smile. "I think your last attempt at claiming a false identity was much more persuasive. At least then, you vainly hoped changing your hair color would be convincing enough."

Ash groaned in frustration. All his attempts of telling the truth paled in comparison to all the extremes Ledo seemed to have taken in the past. As the doors closed behind the still smiling old man, Ash resigned himself to enduring a couple hours in this creepy school. He figured his friends would figure out a way to clear up this rather inconvenient misunderstanding by evening, at least.

* * *

The first thing Misty and Brock figured was the proper course of action was to pick up Ash's pokemon. While Brock busied himself with explaining to Pikachu why her master wasn't with them (Misty strongly suspected he was finding an excuse to avoid Tommy's not so subtle advances), Misty questioned the Pokemon nurse about Ledo's whereabouts.

"Ledo's place? He lives in one of the apartment buildings near the clock tower. I thought you didn't want to see him again?" Tommy teased.

Misty glared, shoving Ash's pokeballs into her bag. "I don't. But because of him, Ash got dragged into that psychic school because someone there actually thinks he's Ledo. Now he's stuck inside, we can't get in ourselves, and the only way to fix all this is to show up with the _real_ Ledo."

Tommy laughed. "Wow, what an interesting situation you three have gotten into. Well good luck finding him, Ledo's rarely ever home when he's not in school since he lives alone. You might have better luck finding him at the park."

"Great." Misty muttered. Had she not been feeling so irritated at the moment, she would have bothered to ask where Ledo's parents were. "So where's the park, then?"

A few minutes later, the trio-turned-duo found themselves scanning the large green expanse of the city park. Thankfully it was relatively flat land so they could see pretty much the entire area, and it didn't take long to spot the small distant figure of an Ash-lookalike.

"Hey!" Misty yelled, stomping over to him so fast, she left Brock and Pikachu scurrying in her wake. "We have a problem, and you're going to help us right now!" The riled redhead emphasized her point by reaching forward to violently shake the grinning boy by his shirtfront. "And what's that stupid grin for, huh?"

"You're cute when you're angry."

Misty was so shocked by the unexpected response that she released her deathgrip on the boy. Ledo took the chance to jump out of reach, laughing so hard his cap nearly shook right off his head. "Hahahhahaa, you should have seen your face...and don't tell me you _believe_ that, a Pincer looks cuter than you!"

"Why you-" Brock quickly rushed forward to restrain his infuriated friend, wincing as his ears took the brunt of her angry screams. Pikachu quickly jumped off his shoulders to save her own ears.

"Okay okay, calm down, Misty, calm down!" Brock pleaded. "We have better things to do, remember?"

Having been reminded of their situation, Misty calmed down enough that her face returned to its normal color. The glare in her eyes still remained, however. Brock decided it was probably best that he be the one to talk.

"Ledo, we've got a little problem...see, someone at your school seems to have mistaken Ash for you, and well, we can't get into the building to explain things. Plus I have a feeling they might not believe us even if we did, you guys look so alike. But if they just saw you-"

"Ha, no way. Do you know how hard it was to get out of that stuffy place? Especially since the principle sometimes makes me _sleep_ there to finish some dumb assignment." Ledo made a face, eyeing Misty in case she decided to try and attack him or something. "Besides, even if Shorty _does _have my ID tag...he doesn't have psychic powers, so they'll figure it out. Eventually."

Brock narrowed his eyes. "And how long is 'eventually?'"

Ledo shrugged. "Who knows? A day, a week...a month. Maybe if I'm lucky, until my parents get back. Then that stupid principal won't be able to do whatever he wants to me anymore, and I'd actually be able to leave the building at the end of the school day." A gleeful look appeared in the boy's eyes at the thought.

"You...you're disgusting!" Misty shouted, her anger past the point of trying to shake him silly. Now, she wanted to beat his head into the ground, if Brock would just _let_ her. "You planned this all from the start, didn't you? I bet you dropped your ID tag in front of us on purpose, so Ash would have it and they'd think he was you! Maybe it's nothing more than a joke to leave him in there for a couple of hours, but how can you even _think_ of leaving him there for a _month_? We have lives too, you know!"

"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in agreement, her red cheeks beginning to spark.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault you guys just happened to be in the way. And I didn't drop it on purpose, I just...decided not to pick it back up." Ledo grinned, putting his hands behind his head in a casual manner. "Besides, I was just joking, even an old man as decrepit as the principal won't take a month to realize it. Give it a day or two, and your happy little group will be whole again. In the meantime, I'm gonna enjoy this while I can. See ya!"

Before either Misty or Brock could say anything more, the boy had taken off like a rocket. Misty stood steaming in her anger, and even the usually level-headed Brock (when he wasn't around pretty girls) was feeling a little disturbed. "That...is one selfish kid." He commented slowly.

"Selfish, and manipulative and conceited and inconsiderate and..._augh_ I wanted to just _rip his head off_." Misty growled, clenching her fists.

"Chuuu..." Pikachu said sadly, her lightning shaped tail drooping. Misty quickly dropped down to the Pokemon's level, doing her best to replace her anger with reassurance.

"Don't worry Pikachu, we'll get him out. This whole thing is just so ridiculous, and that idiot principal will feel _so _stupid when this is all over. And maybe he'll give Ledo what he deserves."

Although he usually didn't go along with Misty's more vindictive ideas, this time Brock couldn't help but hope for the same. He didn't voice it aloud however; instead he suggested the two find to Officer Jenny in the hopes that a higher authority would be enough.

* * *

Ash sighed for probably the millionth time in the past half hour. He was _bored_. Was Ledo's punishment supposed to involve death? Because if this kept up, he'd certainly die from sheer boredom. He'd long gotten over the creepy feeling he got from the black doors in front of him, and busied his idle mind with wondering how they were humming. Because they were certainly humming. And vibrating, when he looked reeeaally closely.

And what was taking Misty and Brock so long? Surely it couldn't be that hard to prove his identity by verifying for him. Whatever they were doing, Ash hoped they'd do it _soon_, he was beginning to get really hungry. Plus, he missed Pikachu.

Without warning, Ash was thrown backwards by a blast of wind that seemed to come out of no where. He yelped in pain as his back collided mercilessly against the hard stone wall. Even if he hadn't been too stunned to move, the young trainer wouldn't have been able to due to the continuous blasting of the mysterious wind that effectively kept him pinned against the wall.

Struggling to look up, Ash realized the direction of the wind was coming from the black doors. Before he could even wonder how that could be, the doors began to vibrate so violently, the entire room seemed to shake. Ash was barely concerned about that though, as he vainly attempted to block his ears from the humming sound that had suddenly become unbearably loud.

"You know that won't work, Samuel Marveledo." A booming voice came from no where, and Ash struggled to lift his head against the still blowing wind in an attempt to identify its source. "I'm surprised you've forgotten how the Obsidian Room works, having been in here more times than I can count. Blocking your physical hearing will do you no good, for the resonance of the Doors penetrates directly into your brain. By the end of this session, your mind will be sufficiently weakened enough for me to work with, and perhaps _this _time you'll actually make some progress. Carlene, increase the resonance by 15%."

Ash strained to hear the now distant sounding voices through the unbearable humming. "But...that's much higher than the standard use!"

"He can handle it, no doubt the boy has developed some measure of resistance from the sheer number of times he's been in here."

Ash was unable to hear whether the other voice responded or not, for the vibrations and humming abruptly became even more intense. Now it felt like the shaking room rattled his very brain within his skull, soundwaves become like physical blades piercing through his body to blast against his very bones. He couldn't even scream, the vibrations of his vocal chords attempting to work completely overwhelmed by the outside forces hammering into him.

One last thought ran through his mind before he completely passed out.

_I have to get out of here..._

_

* * *

_"But Officer Jenny!" Misty protested, nearing the verge of tears. Tears of frustration, and sheer disbelief that the normally helpful policewoman was refusing to do anything to help them. "Why would we lie about something like this?! Just ask one of your sisters, or cousins twice removed, or _whoever_, and they'll tell you that Ash is Ash!"

The blue haired woman held her gloved hands up helplessly. "I'm sorry, I'm not saying I don't believe you at all, it's just, this could be a bit more complicated than you think. There's nothing solid to back up your accusation, so I can't just demand entry into the school to search it without reason!"

"But that's the problem in the first place, if you can just get Ash out, there's your solid proof right there!" Misty countered.

Officer Jenny shook her head. "Look, all you have to do is get Ledo here. If what you say is true and Ledo himself can verify that, that will be enough reason for me to go in and retrieve your friend. But for me to simply barge into Principle Stim's school with the claim that he has someone who looks _exactly_ like his student, but isn't, it could be disastrous. In more ways than one, that school is the center of this town."

"But Officer, we told you - Ledo won't come forward because he sees this as an opportunity to skip school." Brock attempted to explain.

The policewoman shook her head again, but gave the two helpless teens a strange look. "Of course, if I saw Ledo myself, maybe I could ask him enough questions to glean the truth - there's absolutely no need to _drag him in here_ just for a few seconds!" She said the last part somewhat loudly.

Understanding dawned on Brock's face while Misty only cocked her head in confusion. Hastily thanking the policewoman for her 'help,' Brock quickly grabbed Misty and Pikachu and dragged them out of the station.

"Brock! What was that for!" Misty cried out angrily, yanking her wrist out of her friend's grip. "We could have tried to convince her some more, I'm sure she-"

"No, we couldn't." Brock interrupted. "It's not something we've come across very much, but politics can get pretty messy. Anyway, I know she already believes us," Brock continued hastily as he sensed Misty about to explode again, "it's just, her hands are tied. But _ours_ aren't. You heard what she said, she might be able to trick Ledo into admitting what he's done. What's to stop us from 'dragging him in there just for a few seconds?'"

"...Ah." Misty grinned evilly and reached down to scoop Pikachu off the ground. "Come on, Pikachu. What do you say to shocking that jerk into oblivion?"

Brock sweatdropped as Pikachu eagerly agreed. "Accidentally, of course." He suggested nervously.

* * *

Ledo whistled cheerfully, skipping lightly down the street. With the principal fooled into thinking he was in school, there was no need for the constant looking over his shoulder or straining of his mind to sense whether someone was on his tail or not. It was a great feeling, and one that he felt he'd been denied for too long. Only the tiniest bit of guilt arose when he thought about Ash's predicament, but he figured the other boy could handle suffering his problems for one day. Pokemon trainers were supposed to be tough, after all.

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted as something bright yellow caught his eye. Glancing to the side, Ledo saw a Pikachu lying in the grass, and it seemed to be hurt. _Huh. Didn't the Shorty have a Pikachu?_

Shrugging, Ledo walked over to kneel by the moaning Pokemon. It didn't look very hurt, there weren't any scratches or bruises or anything...but it _sounded_ hurt. He was still reluctant to touch it though - the reason he gave Shorty before about not wanting to become a Pokemon trainer was only half the truth. The other half was the fact that he didn't like Pokemon because they were harder to read than humans. Being one of the most powerful telekinetics of his age in this town (not to brag, of course), Ledo could easily read people's emotions most of the time. Not being able to sense a Pokemon's feelings as well made him uneasy.

Deciding the Pikachu wasn't so hurt that it would die without help, Ledo decided he'd let the next passerby take care of it. He gave it an apologetic look and stood up with full intentions of walking away.

Of course, Pikachu had something different in mind. The minute his back was turned, she jumped up and blasted the boy with her best electric shock. The electric mouse felt no need to hold back at all, feeling slighted that the human would leave an injured Pokemon alone.

Apparently, Misty and Brock held the same opinion as they quickly jumped out of the nearby bushes to look down at the electrocuted boy with disapproval. "Honestly, this kid makes me madder by the second. What kind of person walks away from a hurt Pokemon?"

Brock nodded, smiling slightly at the satisfied expression on Pikachu's chubby face. "Alright, I'll get him to the Pokemon Center. You go get Officer Jenny and tell her the 'story' we came up with."

Misty nodded and quickly rushed off in the direction of the police station. Bursting through the doors, she immediately pasted on a look of distress. "Officer Jenny, Pikachu got hurt running through a bush full of thorns, and when Ledo tried to pick her up to help, she shocked him instinctively! He's at the Pokemon center now, can you take a look?"

The surrounding policemen shot the redhead confused looks, wondering why an injured boy required a police officer instead of the nurse already at the Pokemon center. Their confusion only increased further as their commanding officer jumped up as if she had been given the most urgent mission ever. "That sounds serious, I'll be right over!"

Misty inwardly crowed as the two rushed off in the direction of the Pokemon center. Bursting through the doors, she looked around eagerly and upon spotting Brock, quickly made her way in his direction. Unfortunately, she was in for a nasty shock.

"Brock! Where is he?" She hissed, seeing the vacant seats (excluding a disgruntled-looking Pikachu) surrounding her friend.

Brock shot her a helpless look. "He recovered really fast and ran off, saying he felt fine."

Misty grasped her hair in frustration, ready to tear it out. Turning to Officer Jenny, she dropped the guise and pleaded, "Can't you do _anything_? Ledo said the principal sometimes made him sleep at school, so who knows when he'll let Ash out? Is that even legal?"

The policewoman sighed, feeling bad for her inability to help the obviously distressed teens. "Ledo's parents travel a lot, his father's a Pokemon trainer and his mother lectures at Psychic conventions. When they're gone, they gave guardianship of Ledo to the principal, so yes, he's in his rights to do that. I personally don't think it's very healthy for him to keep a child in school all day, but my opinion doesn't matter when it comes to the law."

Seeing the duo's frustration visibly rise, Jenny quickly suggested, "Why don't I ask for him to meet with you two, at least for a few minutes. Maybe you can convince him yourselves; show him Ash's pokemon, he's well aware that Ledo has no interest in becoming a Pokemon trainer, so that might be enough."

Brock nodded in agreement while Misty continued to sulk.

"Don't worry too much. Worst case, you'll just have to wait until the principal realizes his mistake, and that really shouldn't take more than a day."

* * *

"I said_, concentrate_!" Principal Stim snarled, his usually cool countenence completely destroyed. Ash winced as he felt spittle land on his face, and dearly wished to lift a hand and wipe it off. Thanks to some unseen power however, he couldn't as his arms had been fixed to the arms of his chair as if superglued in place.

"I _told_ you, I don't have psychic powers!" Ash repeated weakly, looking helplessly down at the spoon in front of him. No matter how much he insisted, the principle refused to believe it, seemingly convinced he was holding back merely to spite him. Apparently, that was exactly what Ledo had done.

"Will you never learn? How long are you going to cling to this pitiful facade? You are not going to leave this room until you _do as you're told_! And I am telling you to bend this spoon, RIGHT NOW!"

Ash nearly wailed aloud in frustration. If Misty and Brock hadn't done something yet to get him out of here, he'd be stuck in this room forever because there was no way he had the ability to bend a fricking spoon with his mind. The young trainer sorely wished for his beloved Pikachu, knowing if she saw how he was being treated right now, she'd shock this man into oblivion. Never had Ash wished before for his Pokemon to attack another human, but seeing the man's yelling face mere centimeters from his own for the past hour was enough for such wishful thinking.

"Principal Stim. You have a meeting request from the Police Department." A voice suddenly sounded over the PA system, bringing temporarily relief to Ash as the principle lifted his head to listen.

"I am busy at the moment. Is it urgent?"

"She is insisting, sir."

The old man sighed irritably. "Very well, take her to my office, I will meet her there." Looking down at the exhausted boy contemptuously, he spat out, "If this spoon hasn't been bent to a perfect 90 degree angle by the time I get back, you will go back to the Obsidian Room. Is that clear?" Without waiting to see the boy's response, Stim whirled around and stalked out of the room. Officer Jenny had better have a good reason for interrupting him!

Once in his office, the old man was surprised to see the two children he'd seen Ledo with before. However, he had little time to ask silly questions, so he turned to the policewoman and said stiffly, "I respectfully request we make this as short as possible, officer, there is something of utmost importance I must get back to."

"Of course, Principal Stim. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take just a few minutes to listen to what these two have to say."

The principal looked down at the two bristling children, wondering what they could possibly have to say that was worth his precious time.

"You've got the wrong student." The redheaded girl said resolutely, looking up at him with fire in her eyes. Such unacceptable insolence! "In fact, he's not your student at all. Ash may look a lot like Ledo, but they're nothing alike!"

"Ash is a pokemon trainer, who we've been traveling with." The other child continued more calmly. "See, these are his pokemon." He gestured at several Pokeballs and a Pikachu. Stim resisted the urge to curl his lip at the disgusting little rodent sitting on his pristine desk. "So if you don't mind, we'd like to have our friend back, please."

For a few loaded seconds, Stim merely stared down at the two children. When it looked like the redhead was about to say something, he spoke briskly, "Was this what you wanted my time for, Officer?"

"Uh, yes, Principal Stim. Granted, it was a reasonable mistake to make as according to these two, the boys look remarkably alike but-"

"Yes. Exactly. _According to these two_." The principle did curl his lip this time, wondering how an authority figure like the Officer could be taken in by such childish lies. "No doubt they are Ledo's accomplices, attempting to help him 'play hooky,' as they call it. But let me tell you, doing that will ultimately hurt, and not help, your foolish companion. Don't you give me that look, young lady. I know what's best for Samuel, and until his parents come back, it is in my sole discretion to do as I see fit for him to develop to his full potential. And I will do _whatever _it takes for Samuel Marveledo to be worthy of even the esteemed Sabrina's psychic gym. Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back to my star pupil. Good day." Ignoring the angry protests of the children and the Officer's attempts to call him back, Stim abruptly turned and walked out of the office, trusting his secretary to lead them out of his school.

* * *

"My goodness. I was hoping this wouldn't happen." Officer Jenny murmured, the three humans and one pokemon now standing outside the school.

"Why, that arrogant jerk! I don't care how old he is, he deserves to be knocked down! And not just physically!" Misty suddenly sighed, a sharp contrast to her temperamental attitude all day. It was certainly wearing her down, to be so irritated and frustrated all day. She was too tired to even blame Ash like she usually did, especially since she'd been working herself up all day _for _him instead of _because_ _of_ him for once. The tired girl gave a small smile as Pikachu attempted to cheer her up.

Beginning to feel tired himself, Brock turned to Jenny. "I'm a little confused by some things the principal said back there. Why did he mention Sabrina's gym? And it seems Ledo's famous for skipping school a lot - so how is he considered the 'star pupil?'"

"In the psychic community, Sabrina is considered one of the best - and her gym, _the _best psychic school in the region, possibly the world. It's no surprise then, that most psychic schools, not just Sienna Town's, are in some way affiliated with her gym." Jenny explained. "Either the schools were founded by former students of the gym, or they teach to the standards that come from there." She suddenly sighed. "Once in a while, Saffron Gym sends out recruiters to these schools to invite the best students to study under Sabrina. Unfortunately, Principal Stim is especially determined for his school to be recognized, so he drives his most powerful students especially hard with the hopes that they'll be recruited. It just so happens that Ledo has the most potential, but is also the least motivated, so he has it pretty tough from the principal."

Misty scoffed. She refused to feel sorry for a guy who wouldn't hesitate to leave someone in his place to be punished, or leave an injured Pokemon unattended. All this meant to her was that Ash was in even more trouble than they thought.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like you two will just have to wait. Your friend will probably come out of that school a bit stressed looking, but he'll be out by the day." Jenny reassured. "I should get back to my post. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful."

Misty resisted the urge to say exactly how she _could_ have been helpful. She knew the policewoman had tried the best she could within her legal limits.

"Thanks for trying, officer." Brock waved goodbye. Once she was gone, he turned to Misty with a resigned look on his face. "Well, might as well find someplace for the night."

* * *

"Do it! DO IT NOW!" Stim nearly bellowed, sweat beading on his forehead. By now, Ash was too tired to insist on his identity anymore, and merely slumped forward, forehead nearly touching the spoon he was supposed to bend. The tiny relief that came from the more relaxed posture was immediately taken from him, however, as he felt his body suddenly jerked back and slammed against his chair. Now, like his arms, his back was psychically glued to stay in place. All he could do was let his head slump forward, his cap falling off his head and into his lap.

The principal blew out a frustrated breath, running a hand through his previously neatly combed hair. He couldn't let this boy get to him this fast, the whole school knew of Ledo's endurance to last at least a week before caving in to even his demands. Perhaps he had been going about this the wrong way all along. The Obsidian Room could only do so much; it weakened the mind by extreme discomfort with a touch of pain – mere physical means, a primitive method. He needed to try something else. Something different.

This would take some thought. Casting one last look of frustration at the practically sleeping boy, the principal called for Ledo's usual teacher to take over, determined not to let him rest even in his absence.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for getting through this boring chapter, in my opinion. It was a very explanatory kind of chapter, which always end up boring no matter what I try.. :(

PLEASE review and tell me something constructive! Even picky stuff like, 'you left out a period...here,' would still be appreciated! THANK YOU


End file.
